I agree with you regarding Bakersfield; at least how it was in the mid-’70s. One of my wife’s four older sisters married a guy (they both grew up in Arkansas with tenant farmer parents) whose only work was driving a dump truck. They struck out for CA and ended up in Bakersfield. I found out that there were many others in the area from Arkansas and Texas and it was a conservative “atmosphere” after visiting with them a couple of times.
We spent a few days with them around 1977. Their house faced a busy main road in town, but across the street was a huge orange orchard and the smell was fantastic. They had trees in their backyard for grapefruit, orange and lemon.
I rode with him on his job a couple of days, as by that time he had a large business doing contract work for the oil companies; building roads and constructing well sites. I recall a place called Onion Patch. .....He became a millionaire by the late ‘80s and also had a trucking business that would haul heavy earth moving equipment for others. He got into collecting old classic cars, like the RR Silver Cloud (which they drove to our house in Texas one year) and had a huge RV. .......Their kids all grew up working in his business and two are still out there. He retired back to Arkansas and died a couple of years ago.
Geez... Sorry for being so mouthy. Just stirred memories.
Nice story but Bakersfield is no where close to what it was in the 70s. There is nowhere here called Onion Patch. There is a Weedpatch.